Getting Ready to Live Great Work

Since leaving Cossette earlier this year, I’ve had the opportunity to work on some great projects with Rogers Ventures and The Taylor Group, all the while continuing my search for a new place to land and call “home”.

I’ve spoken with a number of Toronto agencies and can honestly say there are some incredibly smart people doing some very cool things in this city! I’m continually impressed by the work, enthusiasm and innovation happening here.

Most recently, I’ve had the pleasure/fortune of speaking with Jacquelyn Cyr and the Espresso team about joining them.

I’m thrilled to announce I’ll be doing just that as of September 26^th as Group Account Director :)

In this role, I’ll be overseeing a super smart and talented client service team ensuring excellence in quality of work and client relationships, as well as working in partnership with members of the creative services team to ensure that solutions delivered to clients are both innovative and business-focused.

I’ll also be tasked with helping to extend the strategic brand practice of the agency, leading research and analysis, recommending and developing best practices and unique models, leading brand strategy on behalf of clients, and defining business-level team requirements as the strategic business grows.

Espresso is an integrated brand agency that delivers media-agnostic thinking in strategy, marketing communications, advertising, and custom technology products. We value curiousity, innovation, integrity, and optimism.  We’re obsessed with ideas. As an agency partner, Espresso brings high-level thinking and operational discipline to both brand and business building. We do whatever it takes to build leading edge and deeply integrated brands.

Live great work. I can’t wait.

What I'm Learning on My Twitter Hiatus

I just finished reading Social Media and the Great Unknown on @MichelleTripp’s Brand Forward blog around the challenges in writing when you’re so intensely focused on an issue (or issues). At the close of her article, she asks three poignant questions:

Have you ever slowed your social media activity at some point? Why?

Did your perspective on social media change when you returned?

What did you learn while you were away?

These questions struck a resonating chord with me. Of particular interest was the first question. “Have you ever slowed your social media activity at some point? Why?”

Those of you who have known me for a while know that up until a little over a year ago I was very active on Twitter for over a year and then began to go somewhat radio silent. I’m not certain that I made a conscious decision to be less active, but was cognizant of the fact that I didn’t have much to say to the world-at-large. It wasn’t a lack of interest in communicating or participating, and I scanned my feeds every day, despite my diminished active participation.

What I began to notice was that, as the popularity – and population – of Twitter rose, so did the level of redundancy and banality. With some exceptions, I could see the same conversations taking place over and over, the same articles being shared, the same observations being made, and very little unique perspective on unique topics of conversation. As I began noticing this, I began looking outside my regular circle of follows to find new conversations and perspectives. This was met with only minimal success as the same trends were occurring in new spheres.

I also noticed that I was part of my own dilemma. I was also sharing the same articles and observations as others and participating in the same conversations with the same people. I felt I was also not being unique. I began scanning blogs and news sites for new perspectives. Again my efforts were met with minimal success. Many of my opinions, which are the same as many others, were being shared in astonishing quantities differentiated only by semantics. I began to question the role of social media in my life and my role in its life.

On one hand I felt validated knowing that I wasn’t alone in my beliefs, processes and opinions. On the other, I felt less of a desire to continue echoing the thoughts of so many people. I’m of the opinion that if I’m going to share or say something I want it to be a unique topic or perspective. (Don’t misunderstand: I love being part of the meme, cute kitten/child/puppy video share phenomenon as much as anyone else :).)

And so I dove deeper and deeper into the Internet to find new topics, opinions and perspectives. The more I found and became absorbed in, the more obsessed I became with finding new things. The more obsessed I became with finding new things the less interested I was in sharing any of it. My need to share was replaced by my need to observe and learn.

I quite often find myself with countless open browser tabs because every new article contains more things I Google and open to read next. I also find myself staring at the screen waiting for, willing, something earth shattering or mind-altering to leap out at me from it.

At this point, I’m still observing and learning. I believe social media is a conduit to this process for me and, perhaps, it will once again become a more active outlet for my thoughts and opinions.

To the other two questions Michelle poses, “Did your perspective on social media change when you returned?” and “What did you learn while you were away?” These are ongoing. I think I’m as “back” as I’m going to be for now, and my perspective and learning on social media are in constant flux.

There are three lessons that are currently standing out for me: Firstly, there is a time to step back and assess your participation in anything you are doing. Why are you doing it? What is your role in it? What value do you bring and what value does it bring you? In answering these questions you will likely find growth.

Secondly, your parents were right: Share with your friends. There is a role for sharing what you may feel to be commonplace or banal. It may be familiar to you, but it may be a brand new insight to someone else. The key is to add your perspective or your own questions to what you’re sharing.

Thirdly, broaden your field of vision (a.k.a. your social media streams). Follow people who, and read things that, don’t have anything to do with your profession or interest. There is tremendous insight outside of your realm of normalcy. 

And what about you?

Have you ever slowed your social media activity at some point? Why?

Did your perspective on social media change when you returned? Is it changing now?

What are you learning from your participation and observations?

Reading Patterns of a Self-Proclaimed Geek

I received an iPad for Christmas. I didn’t ask for it but Santa, knowing the geek that I am, felt this would be an excellent gift for me. I dove right in to discovering apps and books for it – organizational tools, content aggregators, games… You know the drill. I learned something very interesting about my reading patterns over the first few months of having the new gadget; one that I had suspected for a long time, and found being reinforced by having the iPad.

I read fictional literature differently than I read non-fictional literature – for the most part. I have grown accustomed, over the past three or four years, to reading most information-based content online – blogs, news, magazines, along with the usual Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn feeds. Interestingly enough though, I still buy Wired hardcopy from the newsstands and read it both online and old-fashioned style. I also occasionally enjoy snapping open the Globe & Mail and reading the tangible newspaper. 

Here’s what I’ve learned about my reading style on the Mac:

• I pretty much exclusively read information-based, non-fiction content on it,
• I scan the text for information – or data – reading in a downward, horizontal path, reading most of the top end content and tapering off (This is the recognized F Reading Pattern found in eyetracking studies.[1]),
• I don’t read each line of text in its entirety and am reading to gather data rather than for the enjoyment of reading,
• At each unknown or interesting fact, I highlight the content and search Google to learn more,
• Each article I read results in the opening of at least three new tabs for follow-up,
• The above action is perpetual so I’m constantly opening new tabs and at any given time have a minimum of fourteen to twenty tabs open (this, on a quiet reading day),
• I click “Readability” A LOT and don’t see the ads that come with articles I read.

When reading on the iPad, my reading pattern is similar to how and why I read on the Mac in that I scan in a downward, horizontal path seeking information. The problem with this is that I read in this fashion whether I’m reading information-based content or a novel. Therefore, when I try to read a novel or non-fiction on the iPad, I miss most of the fine detail and nuance found hidden between the lines and tucked in behind the words. Consequently, I don’t enjoy the experience in the same manner as when I pick up a book. I believe that my online reading style means I may be missing some of these same nuances when I read articles and blog posts. 

I’ve found it difficult for some time to keep my attention focused on reading a book. I lose my attention span very easily and have had to retrain myself to stay focused when reading a paper-based book – novel or non-fiction. At the time of writing this, I’m reading Grant McCracken’s Chief Culture Officer and am proud to say I’m having tremendous success remaining focused on it! Reading line for line, absorbing the story Grant is weaving about the CCO’s place in the world. What I have discovered though is that I have a notepad beside me at all times while reading, upon which is a cumulative list of new ideas, subjects and items I need to Google. Instead of immediately leaping off the page to a new topic, I will not look up these items until I’ve completed my reading for the day. Maybe at the end of a couple chapters I’ll look up what’s on my list and begin the online reading process described above.

I assume there are others like me, who read online for informational purposes and I wonder if they experience the same dilemma. What this ultimately means for me is that I won’t (can’t?) read a book on my iPad. I am quite happy, though, to read blogs, magazine articles and social media posts on it – I’m a huge fan of Flipboard, Zite, and Zinio for these purposes. It also means that as I am more conscious of my reading style online and off, I’ll pay greater attention to how I’m reading online to see if I can refocus my attention and get more out of the reading experience again.

What does this mean to you? I’m not sure. That depends on who you, as the reader of this post, are. In the spirit of stating the obvious, if you’re a content developer you’re likely already looking into the sweeping generalizations of online versus real world reading and this is either confirming or denying your hypothesis. You are then, by virtue of these findings, already (re)considering what type of content you push to the web or online bookstore. 

There’s an interesting cultural and generational spread on this topic. Do many people of my *ahem* generation fit this mold? Do Gen Y, Gen X, and Boomers have similar reading patterns and behaviours based on the manner in which they were educated and the tools they’ve had at their disposal since? The instinctual, generalized answer to this is, “yes”.

As content continues to shift from offline to online – and back again – these are fascinating trends to monitor whether you’re a publisher or content producer, marketer, advertiser. I’d love to hear your observations on this behaviour and trends you’re seeing or experiencing.

---

[1] Source: http://usabilitynews.usernomics.com/2006/04/f-shaped-pattern-for-reading-web.html

If Only I Had More Time...

I'd blog more. I'd write more, in general. I'd voice my opinions about... well... everything. Well, everything within reason. I'd wax poetic about the state of various industries and the impact branding and communication has on them - or not.

Hmmm... If only I had more time.

Uh no. It's not marketing.

Wow. It's been a really long time since I posted something here. I wonder if I remember how. I guess I finally found something to talk about again. I know, you're shocked.

Yesterday, The Toronto Star posted an article about the "fake lake" we're building for the G20 Summit and it really got under my skin.

I posted the article and a comment to Facebook, and my friend Ernie Lynch in turn made a comment on my post. I'm sharing my response to his comment here because, well, there's only 500 million people on Facebook right now.

Here's the thread:

"Paige Freeborn So, the financial masterminds of the world are gathering in Toronto to discuss financial crises. Of course it makes perfect sense that we'd
waste $2 million on fabricating a fake lake for posterity to show them
all that we've got money to spend foolishly. Really. Really? Really.

Ernie Lynch

I think the water feature was $57k. The pavilion was $2m. It adds up quick. I'm not defending them, I just know how expensive trade shows can get.

Paige Freeborn

But it's not a trade show Ernie. (And I know they add up fast too). It's a meeting of the minds to discuss and try to find solutions for world economic crises. Leaders of countries in dire straights are spending their countries' tax dollars to come here to find answers to the world's financial problems and we're spending exorbitant amounts of money on these things? Are we spending money like this to help them? Are we spending money like this to help ourselves?

We've chosen to host the summit, and someone has to do it. Other cities have done it before us, and others will do it after us. That's fine. The expenditures for our safety - and our guests' - is acceptable and I'd expect no less. But frivolous costs like this are an embarrassment.

Regardless, isn't our "actual" lake the water feature? They're defending this, and the Muskoka chairs etc., as a move to market Toronto/Ontario/Canada tourism to international press who are here to cover the summit. If it increases tourism over the next year and Toronto reaps the rewards of this gross expenditure, is it okay? I'm not sure. Maybe. Will we know if this is what causes any increase in tourism? Likely not. Not to mention the fact that writers from Conde Naste and the like won't be the reporters here for this, so to what extent will coverage be for tourism?

I sure hope the *summit* is the content of reporters' coverage and not our lovely artificial lake and Muskoka chairs.

Rant over. For now.

P.S. not directed at you, Ernie :)

Ernie Lynch

I love you Paige XOXOXO !!!"

##

So my grievance is that marketers need to take into consideration not only the opportunity to be vocal, but the audience of that message and the appropriateness of the message. The only press we're getting about the "Lake Gate" right now is negative and not one travel publication has picked it up (that I'm aware of, but that may obviously change). Why?  

Because the G20 Summit is not a tourism story.

Trying to make it so, is not an appropriate spend of funds marked for tourism and is certainly not an appropriate spend of taxpayers' dollars that could be more wisely used elsewhere.

I keep saying "Rant over." But I'm pretty sure it's not.